


Till The End of the Line

by MagnetoTheMagnificent



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:13:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24638941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnetoTheMagnificent/pseuds/MagnetoTheMagnificent
Summary: I hated Avengers: Endgame for many reasons, one of the main ones being the ending for Steve and Bucky. Because there are a lot of parallels between Steve and Bucky's relationship and Good Omens' Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship, I decided to write an ending inspired by the series' perfect conclusion, because the Russo Brothers are cowards.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Till The End of the Line

Bucky watched the time machine, mentally counting the minutes gone by. Where was Steve? He should have returned?  
Sam, beside him, was also growing concerned.   
They stood, side by side, their rapidly beating hearts punctuated by the ticking of Sam's watch.   
Sam was the first to say something.  
"Something's wrong," he told Bruce, who was frantically going over the charts.   
"Bring him back!"  
As Sam and Bruce feverishly worked at the time machine, Bucky hung his head sadly.  
Steve had promised, he promised he'd be there for him. Something must have happened.   
With heavy steps, he walked towards the bench overlooking the lake. He needed to get away from it all. The water gently lapped against the shore, drowning out the sounds of Sam, Clint, and Bruce's panic.  
As the former Winter Soldier sat on the old bench, his mind wandered off to memories of a previous lifetime.   
Early on, he had faced the notion that he would outlive Steve. As he sat by Steve's sickbed all those years ago, as he laid his hand on his best friend's frail body, he terrified himself with the thought.   
When he was a prisoner during the war, he prayed with what little faith he had left that someone back at home would care for Steve in his absence. The only thing keeping him from going wire happy was the fact that if he were killed, Steve would be left with no one.   
When he opened his eyes to see Steve's face, he thought it had finally happened. Whatever powers that existed above must have granted him the final mercy- seeing the face of his beloved as he drifted off to a final sleep.   
He hadn't died then, though he should have. Whatever family he had left should have gotten that dreaded letter, but they didn't. Bucky had been saved. He had been saved by Steve.   
But, like all things in his miserable existence, it was not to last.   
As he lay freezing in that ravine, blood pooling from his severed arm, he thought with bitter relief, "at least it's me and not you, Stevie."

"It's always been you," he muttered, gazing out to the shimmering lake.  
His mind flashed back to that fateful day on the Potomac, when he dragged Steve from the murky waters.   
It was the first choice he'd made in almost 70 years, and he had chosen Steve.   
Steve, his wonderful, brilliant Steve, had never given up on him.   
He buried his face in his hands, unwilling to gaze any longer at a world without Steve.

"Buck"

Bucky stirred as he felt a steady hand on his shoulder. Weakly, he lifted his now tear-stained face.  
The face he saw in front of him had to be a dream. He had to.   
"Steve?" he asked. 

Steve smiled.  
"Yeah. It's me, I'm here, Buck."  
Bucky wiped his hand against his cheek.   
"I thought you were dead," he sobbed as Steve embraced him.  
"I'm sorry, Bucky. I'm never leaving you again," he promised, taking Bucky's left hand in his.  
"What happened?"  
Steve sat next to Bucky, not letting go of his hand.  
"I took a little longer than I expected on Sakaar returning the Soul Stone," he answered, and a chuckle escaped his lips.  
"What's so funny?"  
Steve bit his lip, grinning.  
"You'll never guess who was there."  
"Who?"  
"Schmidt!"  
Bucky gasped.  
"What'd he do to you?" he demanded, remembering the torture he had endured under the Nazi doctor's orders.  
Steve patted Bucky's thigh comfortingly.  
"He was a little shocked to see me, had a few choice words to say, as you can imagine," he explained.  
"So I returned the stone," Steve continued, pausing for the next bit.  
"And then I told him I had something else to give him, and I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bird!" he giggled.  
Bucky threw his head back and burst out into peals of laughter. 

Steve's heart grew warm seeing his best friend laugh, genuinely laugh. He rarely laughed like that.  
"So what should we do, now that we have all of eternity together?" he asked once they had recovered from their mirth.  
Bucky suddenly grew serious.  
"Well, at least until the next big disaster," he said softly.   
Steve gripped Bucky's hand firmly.  
"We don't have to fight anymore," he told the former assassin.  
Bucky sighed.  
"We'll see about that. Until then," his blue eyes lit up again, "how about I challenge you to another ride on the Cyclone?"  
"Challenge accepted!" Steve announced brightly, helping Bucky to his feet.   
***  
It was nighttime, and the sky was uncharacteristically clear over Coney Island.  
Both super soldiers were recovering from their ride as the roller-coaster car pulled to a halt. Steve looked a little green.  
"I'd like to think," Steve began, climbing shakily out of his seat, "that none of this would ever have happened if you weren't just a bit of a jerk."  
Bucky joined his friend as they stood on the platform.  
"And if you weren't, under all that glamour," he teased, "just enough of a punk to go through with it all."  
He rested his head on Steve's shoulder.  
"What are you thinking about, Buck?" Steve asked.  
"I'm just hoping all this lasts," he answered, gesturing to the fireworks that had been set off in celebration of the world not ending.  
"It will," Steve promised, "and if it doesn't, I'll stay with you-"  
"Till the end of the line," Bucky answered.  
For the first time in their lives, the soldiers allowed themselves to relax. They had each other, and they were never going to let go again.


End file.
